Chapter 494 I Didn't Steal Anything
The autumn sunset was exceptionally beautiful, but Sun Shuiqin had no interest in admiring the scenery. She leaned slightly against Zhao Shagen and walked unsteadily toward the village's main courtyard.
As soon as she entered, she walked to the flower hall in the first courtyard and saw Cheng Wanwan, Kong Xiuniang, and Cao Yingying sitting there. None of the three of them looked too good.
Her ominous premonition grew stronger and stronger.
"What's the matter that you called me over in such a hurry, Auntie?"
Sun Shuiqin forced herself to remain calm and asked with a smile.
Cheng Wanwan said calmly, "It's not convenient for you with your big belly, please sit down."
Zhao Shagen quickly helped his wife sit down.
"You went to Hekou County today, right?" Cheng Wanwan didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point. "Can I ask what you went to Hekou County for?"
Sun Shuiqin's hand, hidden in her sleeve, suddenly froze.
She went to Hekou County on a whim and changed her route halfway through. How could her aunt know? Could it be that she sent someone to follow her?
The reason for following her must be that they discovered she was having private dealings with Manager Hu.
Aunt Zhao was a smart woman; rather than stammering, she decided to admit it directly.
Thinking of this, Sun Shuiqin raised her head and said, "I went to Hu's Clothing Shop. My aunt knows that because I am pregnant, Kong Xiuniang and Er Gou's wife did not let me work in the embroidery workshop. I also wanted to earn some money to supplement the family income, so I cooperated with Manager Hu to make cotton undergarments. They sold very well in the market. I went there today to collect my share of the profits."
Cheng Wanwan laughed; this was indeed a straightforward person.
If Sun Shuiqin hadn't been so cunning, she would have really wanted such a smart and straightforward person to help her.
She laughed and said, "Do you know how much of an impact it had on me to take my lingerie design and ask Manager Hu for a collaboration?"
"Auntie, I didn't take your design draft. I made changes!" Sun Shuiqin argued righteously. "If you don't believe me, you can go to Hekou County and see for yourself. There isn't a single one that's the same!"
Cheng Wanwan found it reasonable that she could make such a sophistry.
In ancient times, there was no concept of exclusive design or plagiarism. Once a style came out, a bunch of people would immediately follow suit. Not to mention, Sun Shuiqin did modify a few details.
If Sun Shuiqin had done this after her product was launched, she could have been praised for having business acumen.
But now, having stolen trade secrets first and plagiarized clothing design drafts, she can no longer tolerate this person.
"Sister-in-law Shagen, I never thought you were this kind of person!" Cao Yingying said in disbelief. "We are about the same age and both pregnant. I trusted you so much and often took you in and out of the embroidery workshop. You pretended to be on good terms with me, but in reality, you secretly stole the design drafts. You have such a deep mind!"
Fortunately, Er Gou had warned her beforehand, so she was a little more careful; otherwise, who knows how much would have been stolen...
“Er Gou’s wife is wrong,” Sun Shuiqin said without backing down. “The design I gave to Manager Hu was drawn by myself. It has nothing to do with the Cao family, let alone theft. Does that mean that the business of cotton undergarments can only be run by the Cao family and people from Sui’an, and that others can’t do it?”
Cheng Wanwan wanted to applaud her; she was truly quick-witted.
She smiled and said, "Of course you can do it, but, silly wife, let me remind you, doing business is for profit, but you can't forget righteousness for profit. If you abandon righteousness, the road ahead won't be easy."
"Thank you for the reminder, Sui'an people." Sun Shuiqin stood up. "Now that I've chosen this path, I can't possibly regret it."
"You have truly disappointed me!" Kong Xiuniang looked at her and shook her head repeatedly. "You are my most outstanding student. I once thought of teaching you everything I have learned in my life, but now... I will only say one thing: our teacher-student relationship ends here. In the future, when you go out, never say that you are a disciple of the Kong family. I am really afraid that you will tarnish the reputation of my Kong family!"
Sun Shuiqin bit her lower lip hard and turned to leave.
"Are we just going to let her go like this?" Granny Qi, who had been standing at the back, spoke up. "Why don't we send someone to teach her a lesson and let her know what happens when she offends the people of Sui'an?"
"Granny Qi, let's put away those old tricks from the capital. There's no need for them." Cheng Wanwan said calmly. "I'm a sixth-rank lady, and it would be bad for my reputation to be at odds with a young woman. She's too greedy and will eventually fall into trouble. I don't need to get involved at all. Alright, let's prepare the meal."
Granny Qi nodded and brought out the dinner that had been prepared.
Sun Shuiqin walked quickly to the outside of the mansion, turned around and stared at the huge house, a ruthless look appearing in her eyes.
She can't rely on a man, so she'll rely on herself. She's going to earn lots and lots of money, raise her son to study, and eventually become a noblewoman!
"Wife, wait for me!" Zhao Shagen caught up with her. "Did you and Aunt Zhao have a fight? What were you talking about? I can't understand you."
Sun Shuiqin shook off his touch: "The three of them bullied me together, and you, as my husband, didn't say a word. Is this what you mean by protecting me?"
“But…” Zhao Shagen scratched his head, “I think I heard them say you stole something. Honey, what did you steal from Aunt Zhao? Let’s go back, okay? Stealing is wrong…”
"I didn't steal anything!" Sun Shuiqin immediately exploded. "Those clothing design drafts were all drawn by myself. I figured them out myself. I stayed up all night drawing them. Now that I've finally made some money, why are they framing me! Their business being affected is their own problem, why are they blaming me for it!"
She became emotional, and the banknotes in her sleeve tumbled out.
Zhao Shagen quickly squatted down and picked it up. Before, in Hekou County, he thought his wife only had one hundred taels, but now he saw that she had almost one thousand taels. Although he was not very smart, he now vaguely understood what was going on.
Sun Shuiqin snatched the silver note: "This is the money I'll use to buy a shop in the future!"
After she finished speaking, she turned and left.
Zhao Shagen quickly chased after her: "Wife, if you want money, I can work hard to earn it, but we can't do anything wrong. Let's return the money to Aunt Zhao..."
“I haven’t done anything wrong,” Sun Shuiqin emphasized. “This thousand taels is money I earned honestly, it’s my hard-earned money, why should I return it? If you keep pressuring me, we’ll get a divorce!”
The two argued all the way home.
Silly Root's mother sat in the yard, watching the two of them being pulled in through the door, and frowned: "What kind of trouble is this?"
"Mother, Shuiqin, she..."
Just as Zhao Shagen was about to ask what to do, Sun Shuiqin took out the money from her sleeve.
She was fighting alone and needed to bring someone over. Her mother-in-law loved money the most, and she didn't believe that her mother-in-law could resist the temptation of a thousand taels of silver.
Silly Root's mother's eyes widened instantly: "My goodness, it's a silver note, a silver note worth one hundred taels of silver! No, where did this money come from?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
